LSAT score linked to scholarships??? Forum

[bmphelps]

I am currently studying for the LSAT in June. I have taken a practice LSAT at Kaplan exactly once cold....no prep at all...and got a 157. I have read the study techniques of the highly scoring students and am going to apply some of those really helpful techniques to my study strategy.

However, I want to find out if a high score is really linked to a scholarship offer (as the Kaplan administrator told me on practice test day). Please answer the following:

1. What was your LSAT score?
2. Were you offered any scholarships and if so, where?
3. Were they full or partial?

Thanks!

[RTR10]

The answer to your question is HELL YES.

The schools really only want your LSAT and GPA. It's a business, they don't care what you did (unless it's HYS, and of course they care what you did as well). Schools really trying to move up in the rankings will do pretty much anything to get a high LSAT to matriculate.

[cantwaitforuva]

YES YES YES

Merit scholarships are usually based purely on your LSAT/GPA combination.

I scored 170

1. Cornell - $45K
2. UICU - Full ride
3. Duke - $54K
4. Georgetown - $60K
5. UVA - $54K

and some others I don't remember

[bmphelps]

Please don't think I'm an idiot, but I envision someone bending on their knee with the scholarship on a satin pillow, pleading "Please please go to my school!"

However, knowing the REAL world, even if you know you have a higher GPA (my undergrad was 3.5 and my grad was 3.183), and you score relatively higher on the LSAT's, do you STILL have to apply for a scholarship, or does the institution you apply to see your scores and contact you with an offer?

Thanks!

[cantwaitforuva]

Please don't think I'm an idiot, but I envision someone bending on their knee with the scholarship on a satin pillow, pleading "Please please go to my school!"

However, knowing the REAL world, even if you know you have a higher GPA (my undergrad was 3.5 and my grad was 3.183), and you score relatively higher on the LSAT's, do you STILL have to apply for a scholarship, or does the institution you apply to see your scores and contact you with an offer?

Thanks!

Usually you don't apply for a scholarship. Schools just see your scores and offer you one based on that. And not to sound like a jerk, but a 3.5 isn't really high, but I suppose that depends on what schools you are aiming for.

[MissVirginia]

@ cantwait are you in-state Virginia?

[RTR10]

And by the way, a high GPA (even a 4.0) won't make up for a crappy LSAT score.

[cantwaitforuva]

@ cantwait are you in-state Virginia?

Nope. PM me if you want to chat about scholarship awards - I'm guessing that's why you asked if I was in-state.

[bmphelps]

It's true...of all the posters I've read so far, you guys are definitely mostly a group of OA's that probably graduated magna cum laude and scored over 170 on their LSAT's

However, I did hear that LSAT score weighs more heavily in the "index" than GPA does (gaining a couple of extra points on the GPA doesn't help as much as a couple of extra points on the LSAT)

And hopefully, my pitiful 3.5 GPA will do fine if I score moderately well on the LSAT. You are right...I am not planning on going to Harvard...I worked full time during all my high school years and subsequent college career, so I did what I could manage. I already make more now than I ever could as a 1st year graduate from law school, so my goal is purely a personal one and not a career goal

Thanks for the info, though, very helpful...

[RTR10]

It's true...of all the posters I've read so far, you guys are definitely mostly a group of OA's that probably graduated magna cum laude and scored over 170 on their LSAT's

Def. not true. I had a 165 and 3.4. I took a full ride at a school in the 30s.

[cantwaitforuva]

I didn't mean to imply that a 3.5 is "pitiful," simply that if you're aiming for a top school, it will just make it even more important for you to up that LSAT score.

And kudos on making more than $160K right now, that's pretty impressive for not having a law/medical/MBA degree. If you don't mind my asking how many years out of ugrad are you and what sort of job do you do?

And I must say that I admire people who turn their backs on that kind of salary for three years because they really want to study law.

[wesleybs]

I think that the LSAT it more important in terms of getting you into the school of your choice, while the GPA will help with scholarship money (at least that is my experience with a great LAST and not so great GPA (3.73). I got into a lot of great schools, but a lot of people with somewhat significantly lower LSATs got more scholarship money because they had higher GPAs.

[cantwaitforuva]

I think that the LSAT it more important in terms of getting you into the school of your choice, while the GPA will help with scholarship money (at least that is my experience with a great LAST and not so great GPA (3.73). I got into a lot of great schools, but a lot of people with somewhat significantly lower LSATs got more scholarship money because they had higher GPAs.

3.73 is a good GPA. Which schools are you considering?

[wesleybs]

UVA 1/2 tuition, Vandy 25k/yr, and Wake Forest (full ride). I don't think I'll be paying the deposit at Vandy this week, so that will narrow it down to Wake and UVA. Still waiting to hear from Harvard as well.

[MissVirginia]

@ wesley: what do you mean by "1/2 tuition" at UVA? Did they agree to match the half mark even if tuition rises your second and third years?

@ cantwait: yeah, that's what I was wondering, 'cause of scholarships.

[nativedelta]

Are you serious? Of course!!

Even with my abysmal UGPA of 2.79, my 162 got me a 20% scholarship at Catholic, a top 100 school.

[aguyingeorgia]

Get a great score, and schools and scholarships will be there.

One note, some schools do require you to apply for scholarships on separate forms.

[Player30]

My GPA is just under 3 and I've received close to half tuition at T3 schools with an upper 150's LSAT.

[wesleybs]

Virginia: I meant 21 out of 42k. There was no commitment in terms of matching tuition hikes, but the award letter did present it as a "half tuition" scholarship.

[bmphelps]

Thanks everyone - I appreciate the posts. This gives me hope that if I score well (and I'm going to shoot for 180!), then I can get school fully paid. That's a relief because I have student loans now (just finished graduate school in January), and the last thing I want to do is pay for more school.

I will take the study tips I've read on this forum into consideration

[bmphelps]

I didn't mean to imply that a 3.5 is "pitiful," simply that if you're aiming for a top school, it will just make it even more important for you to up that LSAT score.

And kudos on making more than $160K right now, that's pretty impressive for not having a law/medical/MBA degree. If you don't mind my asking how many years out of ugrad are you and what sort of job do you do?

And I must say that I admire people who turn their backs on that kind of salary for three years because they really want to study law.

Let me clarify...I don't make 160k just yet. That salary for first year law grads is reserved for those that graduate from one of the top 10 schools. Many law students are astounded at just how little first year, second year, third year, etc. grads make. In my area, San Joaquin Valley, CA (think Fresno, Bakersfield, etc), there is one law school only in a radius of 120 miles around - and that is San Joaquin School of Law. The next closest school is two and a half hours away. More than 70% of the lawyers that work in this area have graduated from that law school. First year grads in this area (no matter WHERE you graduated, but of course a Harvard grad would not take a job here) make just above 40k per year. That doesn't rise sharply until your 5th year out of law school - and then you're more in the 100k range.

There is this fallacy that law students believe that they think they will drop 100 grand on law school and make a ton when they get out...yes, if you are part of the top 10 school elite. For the rest of us (and I say "us" because I didn't attend an Ivy League undergrad or grad college, graduated with a 3.5 - low for top tier law school, work full time and have a family so I can't just go ANYWHERE). My main goal, and the reason for the start of this thread, is to go to law school for free. My current GPA ensures I will be a priority student at the local law college. I already know I can score somewhere in the higher 150 range for the LSAT. I could not study one day for the LSAT and still get in the local school no problem - probably with a partial scholarship. If I take the next 6 weeks and study hard, and score high on the LSAT, I won't have to pay for school.

To answer your question - I am a Materials Manager for a mid-size manufacturing firm. I am the first female in upper management since it's inception in 1961, and my last raise was 10%, with 10% guaranteed in 6 months, and another 10% guaranteed in 6 months after that. That will put me at just over 80 grand per year in 9 months, but currently I make almost 70k, not as much as a first year law grad from Harvard or Stanford, but definitely better than a 3rd or 4th year local law grad in this area. However, since law school will take me another 3-4 years, and then I have to pass the bar and practice law for another 3 to 4 years just to make what I make now, that's already 7 or 8 years down the road, and so I do take into consideration what I could be making by then if I just stuck with my current vocation. So, I accept your admiration - I would be turning my back on a considerably and potentially higher salary to go to law school

[rmyoun06]

I got a 171. I was offered a 75k scholarship for Northwestern and a 15k scholarship from Indiana University - Bloomington. Nowhere else offered me scholarships, including my local law school (which pissed me off! )

[cantwaitforuva]

While I agree that the vast majority of law grads will not be making $160K right away, it's not just a salary reserved for the top 10 schools. Although it is difficult, if you were to go to a school in the T-30 you have a good shot at getting a $160K if you graduate towards the top of your class.

[BettBee]

rmyoun06,

Did you apply for any, or are you pissed because they did not offer them unasked-for?

[ec2444]

when schools offer scholarships, are they only for the first year? or do their offers apply to all three years total? or is that number per year?